Marcou a semi-finalist for second consecutive year as one of the top playmakers in Hockey East.

James Marcou

Feb. 3, 2009

BOSTON -
Gridiron Club of Greater Boston president Tim Whelan announced today that sixteen NCAA Division One players are semi-finalists for the fifty-seventh Walter Brown Award, presented annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England. UMass winger James Marcou has been named a semi-finalist for the second consecutive season after having an outstanding sophomore season so far as the Minutemen's leading scorer and being one of the top playmakers in Hockey East.

The candidates include eleven players from Hockey East, four from the ECAC Hockey League, and one from Atlantic Hockey. The slate comprises 12 forwards, one goalie, and three defensemen. Northeastern University, which did not have a semifinalist last year, boasts three in 2009 while Boston University has two. Four nominees, Boston College senior forward Benn Ferriero, Providence senior defenseman Matt Taormina, New Hampshire sophomore forward James van Riemsdyk, and Massachusetts sophomore forward James Marcou, were all semifinalists for last year's award, which was won by New Hampshire goalie Kevin Regan.

The only goaltender on the 2009 semifinalists' list is Brown University junior Dan Rosen, who was a semifinalist as a freshman two years ago. Defensemen on the list in addition to Taormina are Boston University senior Matt Gilroy and Northeastern senior Louis Liotti.

The lone nominee from Atlantic Hockey and the first ever from Bentley College is senior forward Dain Prewitt.

"This has been a very interesting season to date in Eastern hockey, with several more teams in contention for the respective league titles and home ice playoff berths than we've seen in previous years," said Gridiron Club Hockey Awards Committee chairman Tim Costello.

"That competitiveness has made the task of drawing up a list of semifinalists for this year's Walter Brown Award even more difficult than usual. Not everyone who received serious consideration was able to make the cut. We look forward to tracking the semifinalists closely through the stretch run and playoffs."

The Gridiron Club will announce the finalists and winner of the 57th Walter Brown Award in March, following league playoffs and before the start of NCAA Tournament play.

The Walter Brown Award
Commemorating the life and works of America's greatest sportsman, the Walter Brown Award is given annually to the outstanding American-born college hockey player in New England. The Walter Brown Award is the oldest nationally recognized honor accorded to individual players in the sport of American college hockey. Brown coached the United States to its first world hockey championship in 1933. The U.S. team, the Massachusetts Rangers, comprised players from Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Notre Dame, and Boston Commerce High School. The Americans defeated the Toronto National Sea Fleas, coached by Harold Ballard, 2-1 in overtime in the final game of the 1933 World Tournament at Prague, Czechoslovakia. It was also America's first win over a team from Canada and the first loss ever suffered by the Canadians in international play. The U.S. team members established the Walter Brown award at their 20th reunion in 1953. Criteria for the selection committee include leadership, character, sportsmanship, and ability as well as on-ice achievement. The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston has been the steward of the Walter Brown Award since 1977.